Democrats Dig In on Shutdown After Election Wins

President Trump’s declaration that the closure had hurt his party on Tuesday appeared to have stiffened Democrats’ resolve and put at least a temporary damper on talks to end the crisis.

Democratic victories in key statewide elections on Tuesday have injected a jolt of energy into the party’s resolve to continue the government shutdown fight, putting at least a temporary damper on bipartisan talks to end the crisis.

Senate Democrats on Wednesday dug deeper into their demand that President Trump negotiate with them on health care subsidies in exchange for reopening the government, after Mr. Trump declared that the record-long federal closure had hurt his party in Tuesday’s elections.

In the days leading up to the balloting, some centrist Democrats had signaled that they were ready to strike a deal to end the standoff. Patience has worn thin across the political spectrum with a shutdown that has furloughed hundreds of thousands of federal workers, sapped nutritional benefits for millions of Americans and snarled air traffic.

A clutch of Democratic moderates has been meeting privately with a handful of centrist Republicans, mostly to discuss spending legislation that would fund the government.

But Mr. Trump’s declaration on Wednesday at the White House that the shutdown had hurt Republicans appeared to have complicated efforts to find an off-ramp, at least for now.

“The shutdown was a big factor, negative for the Republicans,” Mr. Trump told Republican senators at a breakfast, adding, “We must get the government back open soon — and really, immediately.”

Gov. Glenn Youngkin of Virginia, a Republican, echoed the president’s assessment, telling reporters on Wednesday after Democrats swept his state that the shutdown posed “a very, very big challenge as we ran into this election.”

The remarks appeared to have prompted new hope among Democrats that the president and G.O.P. leaders would be willing to negotiate with them on a deal to extend expiring tax credits that help Americans afford Obamacare coverage.

Democrats moved to expand them during the pandemic, but the subsidies are set to lapse at the end of the year, sending premiums soaring for millions of Americans. Extending them has been Democrats’ chief condition for supporting a spending bill to fund the government.

Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the minority leader, read Mr. Trump’s comments into the official congressional record on the Senate floor on Wednesday, saying: “The election results ought to send a much-needed bolt of lightning to Donald Trump that he should meet with us to end this crisis and his shutdown, which he admits hurt him badly in the election.”

Mr. Schumer and Representative Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat of New York and the minority leader, wrote to Mr. Trump on Wednesday demanding a meeting.

The group of Senate Democrats who had been looking for a way out of the shutdown met again on Wednesday. Attendees described the talks as “productive” and said they would continue discussions, but wanted to see whether Mr. Trump would engage with their party.

“There are some changes in circumstance with regard to the president weighing in, and we’re going to see how those shake out,” Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin said.

Asked if the election results would change the strategy on tying health care demands to reopening the government, Ms. Baldwin said: “They only reinforce it. This was an election all about the high cost of things, very clearly, and it just increases the resolve that we need to bring costs down for our constituents.”

Senator Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, another member of the group, said the president summoning Republicans to the White House to discuss the shutdown indicated the dynamics had shifted.

“Trump is the decider on this, so we need him and his head in the game. And from this morning’s conversation, it looks like he’s finally, finally turning to this,” she said. “I hope we can meet with him as soon as possible and resolve this.”

Mr. Trump, however, has remained fixated on the idea that Senate Republicans should end the shutdown on their own by getting rid of the legislative filibuster to push through a funding bill. Currently, most bills need to secure 60 votes — necessitating bipartisan support — to advance in the Senate.

Senate Republicans almost unanimously oppose the idea of abolishing the filibuster, and Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the majority leader, threw cold water on the demand immediately after returning from the White House.

“The votes aren’t there,” Mr. Thune told reporters at the Capitol.

But other Republicans suggested they would not be able to skirt the issue much longer if the shutdown were to continue. Mr. Trump has repeatedly urged Republicans to end the filibuster, and encouraged them on Wednesday to vote to eliminate it “this afternoon.”

“Possibly you’re not going to do that, and I’m going to go by your wishes,” Mr. Trump told them. “You’re very smart people. We’re good friends. But I think it’s a tremendous mistake. It would be a tragic mistake. Actually, it’s time.”

Senator John Cornyn of Texas said there was not enough support among Republicans to end the filibuster, but hinted that that could change should the shutdown stalemate persist.

“We’re going to need to have a conversation about it, and the problem is I think Schumer, if he persists in the shutdown, is going to force the issue, and we can’t tolerate this endless, perpetual threats of shutdowns,” Mr. Cornyn said.

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